Will he be the 6th NBA draft pick in China’s history?
Cui Yongsi 21, Guangzhou Rungs announced on April 25 that it has officially registered for the 2024 U.S. professional basketball draft.
This year’s NBA rookie nomination event will take place from June 27 to June 28 in . The first round ranking first to 30 will be selected at Barclays Center 17,732 people in Brooklyn, New York, and the second round ranked 31 to 58 will be announced at ESPN Studio in South Street Seaport, Manhattan.
Cui Yongxi is 201 centimeters tall based on his profile as a qualifier for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup. He will be used as a guard/forward for the Chinese national team and as a small forward/power forward for his team.
Cui Yongxi has been named the best 10 Korean players second team for the second consecutive year in the Chinese professional basketball league. He gained attention since his debut season in the CBA with 11.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.6 blocks, 37.1 percent success rate, and 89.9 percent free throws accuracy per game in the 2022–23 regular season.
The 2023–24 CBA rose to an average of 15.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists due to increased playing time 29.7→34.2 minutes. However, it is negative that the record per game fell, including a steel 1.6 block 0.3 3-point success rate of 35.6% and free throw accuracy of 79.1%.
Cui Yongsi has been considered one of the top outside defenders in Chinese professional basketball since its first season. Although he was named Defensive Player of the Month in November last year, 2023–24 CBA steals and block reductions will not be good for the NBA draft.
It is positive that the U.S. National Basketball Association paid attention to its potential early on, including the selection of 15-year-old Cui Yongsi as MVP at the NBA’s elite program training camp held in China in 2018.
As a member of the Korean national team, he played nine FIBA A matches, including preliminary matches for the World Cup and preliminary matches for the Asia Cup, starting last year. He is also a bronze medalist in men’s basketball at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2023.
As for China, ranked 29th in the world, five players including Wang Zizhu Yao Ming in the 1990s, Yi Jianlian Sun Yue in the 2000s, and Zhou Qi in the 2010s were drafted by the NBA. Cui Yongxi will challenge for the first time in the 2020s and the first round pick in 17 years.
China’s reputation in the U.S. professional basketball field is declining, with Yao Ming 1st place Yi Jen-lian 6th place selected in the first round one after another, but Sun Yue 40th place and Zhou Qi 43rd place only selected in the second round. 토토사이트
